Another Day
by EnigmaticMemory
Summary: As head of Yggrdasil, a private military company, Lars barely has time to have a normal day with Alisa. Now that they have it, Lars takes her around Stockholm for a date which in turn stirs Alisa's thoughts on her feelings about Lars.  re-uploaded
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is my second LarsXAlisa fic. It's definitely the two of them interacting now. **

**Edited! Edited! Edited! (11-27-'10) :)**

* * *

Grand Hotel Saltsjöbaden, Stockholm County.

It was the middle of July. The midnight sun had not set; the sun hardly sets at this time of year. Visitors or newcomers are greatly affected by this natural phenomenon of the summer solstice in Scandinavia, for example not being able to sleep, due to not experiencing night for long durations of time.

But Lars slept soundly in his bed.

Many months had already passed and he was no rebel leader anymore; he now owns Yggrdrasil, a private military company. One of the places where he could find to situate his private army was in Scandinavia, specifically in Sweden, his homeland. Sweden had adopted a policy on neutrality, which means that the country does not align itself with any political or military alliance during peacetimes or even in times of war.

Now the wars were over and the U.N. was just starting to rise up from its ashes, it was his military that had aided several nations back onto their feet. Even he is the head of the company, just like he was back in the Tekken Force; he still fought on the front lines and performed tasks as if he was an ordinary soldier. Though Yggrdasil had just been founded and have a database of their own, they did not have an established edifice and Lars' personal participation in missions added to the delay, the result was Lars and several of his officers had to stay in hotels.

Due to the recovering state of most nations across the globe, he received calls from numerous clients left and right, hardly any time for rest…or to even take in a few days to experience Alisa's reactivation. But it was alright. It's the two of them again.

"Lars... Lars…"

He opened his eyes. The hotel room was dark. He looked at his cellular phone's clock: 04:45:09.

It was already dawn and he had just gone to bed at around 00:09:08. Only 4 hours of sleep. That voice definitely hadn't come from his cellular phone. Maybe it was just a dream out of exhaustion; clients making calls from his phone needing his service in his waking moments were now invading his slumber. Lars curled up, shut his eyes again. Then he heard the soft voice once more.

"Lars…"

It was coming from the window. He opened his eyes and looked over. He saw the outline of a head on the other side of the glass; he recognized that red and pink shade with a flower headpiece anywhere. He pulled off the covers and reached for his robe.

"Please don't bother getting out of bed. Can I come in?"

"Yes…" Lars whispered groggily.

"Please close your eyes."

Alisa didn't have to say it; Lars' eyes were immediately taken over by sleep. The window opened and a cool summer draft blew into the room, along with the bright summer solstice light as the dark curtains hanging over the window were temporarily swept aside as Alisa entered Lars' room.

The window was carefully closed. He heard a soft rustling of clothes, then the creaking of the mattress springs of his bed. Lars was now half-asleep as the blanket was pulled off and a warm bare body crept in beside him, pulled the covers back over them both and curled into a ball behind his back. Alisa lay completely still behind him, pushing her forehead between his shoulder blades, her breath ran warmly down the small of his back and her buckled knees at the back of his thighs.

Lars opened his eyes, all drowsiness suddenly vanished, and though his mind felt tired when he realized what Alisa was wearing. His mouth went slightly dry. He was a grown man, nothing to be nervous about these kinds of things; he had known about these things ever since he was younger. But this was different; this was not just any woman. This was Alisa.

* * *

Alisa touched her forehead on Lars' back, between his shoulder blades, breathing in his skin's warm scent. This human warmth she had only experienced through her father the moment she was 'born', not with anyone else. She knew what it was like to be touched by other people, the lab assistants who worked for her father; they touched her here and there, checking her systems on every nook and cranny of her body; it was only for their jobs they need to touch her. But Lars is special; there was just something in his warmth that was so _different_…something that can't be put into words.

She raised her head away from his back and then observed it. She held her hand so close to his skin then gently traced the scapula and the thoracic region of his spine with her forefinger. In her mind, she went through several sites on any information of the human anatomy.

This is the Spinous process of the T12 vertebra. Thoracic curvature… T1…T2…T3…T4…T5… T6… T7… T8…T9… T10…T11…T12… Lumbar region…L1…L2…L3…L4…L5…Superficial muscles… Trapezius…Latissiums dorsi…Splenius cervicis…Infraspinatus fascia…Teres major…Teres minor…The human anatomy is truly marvelous; beneath these muscles lies more muscles and organs…Does the soul have a special place in science?

Alisa knew she doesn't have these, only titanium substitutes, a wondrous creation from her father's robotic brilliance. What does it matter if you're born from a robotic capsule not born from a human womb? As her father always told her whenever she asked if she was human enough for him…she asked that from time to time.

She had never asked Lars the same question. She wondered if he'd also say the same like her father did. Alisa then exited out of the human anatomy atlas software then browsed her language translator software…and started tracing letters on Lars' broad back on how this word was said in all the languages.

Liebe

**愛**

사랑

Kärlek

Amour

Любовь

Miłość

Liefhebben

Rakkaus

….The list went on but she stopped after tracing the Finnish translation for that word.

There are 42806 languages in the world…are all of that adequate to tell him how much she feels?

* * *

Lars felt Alisa's fingertips gliding on his back, going dangerously lower but he did not flinch away. Then it stopped. Alisa was now tracing words on his back. He wasn't familiar with most of them, but he recognized two. It was written in Swedish and Japanese but they all said the same thing: 'Love'.

It went on for awhile; he allowed it all the same before capturing the right atmosphere to talk. Lars still kept his back on her, not wanting to face her; he might see something he didn't want to see.

"You're back pretty late." Lars said finally breaking the ice but talking to the bedside lamp. He already understood why Alisa would come back late; she also had tedious missions assisting VIPs across the county and sure enough, Lars caught a whiff of gasoline and cinders.

"I'm sorry. There were some…problems…" Alisa answered. "I felt a little lonely, so I came here instead of my room. Is that alright?"

"Yes, that's fine."

Silence.

"You're not wearing anything." said Lars.

"I'm sorry. Is that nauseating?"

Lars was at a loss of what to say. It was not disgusting, but he did not want Alisa naked beside him, with only the blanket that separated their bodies.

"No." he said. "Aren't you freezing?"

It was a lie; it was summer. His childhood had been spent here in Stockholm and he knew exactly that it was never freezing during summer, as a matter of fact, quite the opposite. It was hot. And that was the same reason why he wasn't wearing anything himself. True enough, Alisa then gave him a geographical and climate report.

"No, no. Sweden has mild weather….—" Lars listened to Alisa's information lecture. It was like listening to the weather forecast.

"….Sweden is in fact a dry country during the summer." Alisa finished.

Silence again.

"Have you talked to your father lately?" Lars asked. Alisa placed her chin on top of his shoulder, looking at his face. Lars tilted his head towards her, her soft features lightly gleaming in the darkness, trying his best to block away the consciousness that her breasts were already pressed against his body, just a blanket barely there that functioned as a barrier. She shook her head.

"I am not a property of the Mishima Zaibatsu anymore; I cannot route any messages to the Zaibatsu's central mainframes. My father's computer may be personal but before receiving my posts, it has to undergo the Zaibatsu's line of communication. I can hack into their server but it would be a risk that the Zaibatsu's mainframe would insert several bugs into me to deter my infiltration. I can also bypass majority of their proxies but I know Papa wouldn't like that; he once told me that the Zaibatsu's central computers are always prepared to be infiltrated so it is not a failsafe. So I have no means of communicating with my father any longer."

"I see." He forgot. When Dr. Bosconovitch reactivated Alisa, he told him that she is no longer tied to the Mishima Zaibatsu and she is now under Lars' care. It was a promise he made to her father that he'd take care of her. '_A property_'; it sounded degrading to Alisa's dignity and significance as an individual.

"You mean to say you don't _work_ for the Zaibatsu anymore. They don't own you. You're you. You belong to no one." He told her.

A few seconds of stillness then Alisa said: "That's what Papa always told me if I'd say something like that."

"And he's right."

Alisa looked at him for a moment then she smiled and buried her face on his shoulder, feeling her lips gliding over his skin.

"Alisa, can you look at our schedule for tomorrow?" Lars asked. Another innocent façade to start a conversation; he already knew that their schedules were cleared for tomorrow to allow themselves for repose and respite.

"_Hai_. I'm logging on the Yggrdrasil database. Scanning…No. We do not have any assignment tomorrow. Our schedules are clear."

"That's good to hear. Will you go out with me tomorrow?"

"Go out?"

"Yes; I'd like to show you around Stockholm and to the place where I once lived when I was younger…and I'd like you to meet a person with whom I hadn't seen in a very long time."

"Oh yes, I'd love to." Alisa replied happily. Lars smiled as a quiet happiness started swelling inside his abdomen; he was glad that he made her happy. It was a good chance to take Alisa around, just a day when they'd just be leisurely walking around Stockholm. There would be no calls tomorrow, no clients, no fighting, and no rushing … just a day with his favorite person in the world.

Alisa's hand crept over his stomach and found its way to his chest, exactly over his heart. He put both his hands over it, warming her hand. Alisa's other hand worked its way under his neck then over his chest and in between his hands. Alisa laid her head at the nape of his neck.

"Lars…can we lie down like this?" she whispered, her lips tickling the back of his neck.

"Yeah." Lars replied.

They laid in that position until Lars felt drowsy again. As he drifted off to sleep, Alisa tightened the embrace, scooting closer to him.

* * *

_**A/N**: The Japanese character for 'love' didn't properly show, damn it. Anyway, Lars is using military time by the way so there's a 0:00 time. I don't know if this should just be two-shots or three-shots…dunno probably more; I'm planning for this fic to be part memoirs or something. Please review._

_It's my first time to experience one of my stories not to register even if you uploaded it (when this was on, my profile stated that I have published 4 stories, which is supposedly 5, but when I removed the story, my profile said 5…) what the hell…? And also the id thingy, sometimes it says that the id can't be located._

_**11-25-'10** :WHEW! Finally I have the time to edit and update this story!_


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey everyone. I'm so sorry for the hiatus. I've been so busy studying…and failing. All that studying thus resulted to a writer's block. ~_~**

**Also, thanks for the reviews and critiques, I really appreciated them :D, just shows how long it's been since I was really writing. :P I've edited some parts of the first chapter; to be honest, I wasn't thoroughly satisfied with it in the first place and it shows that I'm neurotic when it comes to details. ._. Sorry about that. **

**I also forgot to mention that this fic is a sequel to my first Tekken fan fiction (Algorithm of Emotions).**

**Screw college. **

**Anyway…. **

* * *

The sun was shining brightly and the sky was bright azure as Lars drove with Alisa. He looked up at the rear view mirror and gazed at the bouquet of flowers he had bought from a florist earlier, their colorful wrappings fluttering in the wind from the open windows of the car. He couldn't help but feel a little sad. How long has it been since they've last met?

He looked sideways at Alisa and was already going over the places he wanted to take her and wondered whether this one day would be enough; they had twenty-four hours, or less, before they would have another assignment. But before anything else…Lars had to take her to one important place.

"May I ask where we are going?" said Alisa after awhile, finally tearing her gaze from the window of the car.

"Enskededalen." Lars said. "We'll have to visit Skogskyrkogården first before anywhere else."

"A cemetery?"

"Yes. I'm going to introduce you to a very important person…I haven't seen this person in a very long time, you see." Lars replied; he saw her tilting to her head to the side, looking a little confused and he added, "You'll see,"

Alisa nodded once, gave a small smile and returned her gaze to the window.

* * *

The summer light was shining through the trees as they walked into the cemetery. Lars only knew where she was buried even though he hadn't visited since she passed away, but he kept walking as though his feet knew where that grave was.

Despite the dull color of the headstone, her name seems to stand out. Lars felt a twinge of guilt and sadness as he walked toward it that bore her name. Compared to the graves beside hers, they had flowers and candles; though the flowers were a little wilted and some of the candles were melted and extinguished, at least the graves had frequent visitors. She had none.

As Lars and Alisa walked closer to the grave, in his mind's eye, Lars saw her sitting facing the headstone, her long blonde hair gleaming in the summer sun; she then turned around to finally see that she had visitors and her smooth heart-shaped face broke into a wide, silly smile, her cheeks indented with dimples, and a puerile air of welcoming her guests. Lars smiled and knelt in front of the gravestone and laid the flowers at its base.

_"Hej Mamma,"_said Lars_ "Jag är så ledsen inte har besökt dig förrens nu. Jag skulle ha kommit för länge sedan men jag hade ganska många problem, och det är en lång historia."  
_said Lars

Lars looked at the grave steadily for awhile, imagining her bright blue eyes shining through the dull stone inspecting him from head to foot and remembered what she had asked him the last time they had talked. His answer before made her a little disappointed, but now he was sure, if she was still alive, that the answer he would give would make her happy.

"_Du frågade mig en gång förut om jag har någon speciell ... ja, det har jag._"He then straightened up and gestured at Alisa, beckoning her closer."_Jag vill att du träffar Alisa. Hon har varit min vän i de mest osäkra ögonblicken i mitt liv… Hon var där för mig i vått och torrt_."

Lars looked meaningfully at Alisa then back at his mother's headstone before saying, "_Om det inte hade varit för henne, så skulle jag inte vara här framför dig just nu…._"

* * *

As Alisa followed Lars into the cemetery in silence, she looked at him with a little nervousness. Something seems to have enveloped him into something that she couldn't understand quite well.

Lars made an abrupt turn that Alisa nearly walked into him but Lars didn't seem to notice. Alisa trotted a little to keep up with him now and her eyes fell on the bouquet that Lars was holding in his hand; she wondered for who was it.

Lars's pace slowed down as they come close to this particular headstone; Alisa noticed that it was the loneliest she had seen: it did not have any flowers or candles.

"Hello Mom, I'm so sorry I visited just now." Alisa heard Lars said in Swedish as the auditory language translation software processed it in her. "I would've come a long time ago but I had a fair share of trouble and it's a long story." He looked at the headstone steadily for a few moments and continued, "You asked me once if I already have someone special…well,"

Alisa did not need to kneel or even approach very close to the headstone to make out the name engraved upon it. She read the name slowly and understood who this important person was that Lars had wanted her to meet.

**LENA ALEXANDERSSON**

He then straightened up and beckoned her closer. "I'd like you to meet Alisa. She was my friend in the most uncertain moments in my life…She was with me through thick and thin."

Lars looked at her meaningfully before looking back to the headstone before saying, with a hint of sadness, "If it hadn't been for her, I wouldn't be here in front of you now…."

Alisa noticed that Lars' voice faded and she looked at him, noticing that he retreated into a despondent reverie.

* * *

"_What happened to my cute little boy? You look a mess._"

His mother's voice echoed in his memory and the world around Lars ceased to exist. He looked down onto the grave and retreated to the last conversation he had with his mother; Lars saw her again in his mind's eye and she materialized along with the place where they had last talked and she was now looking back at him.

But that was years ago; she wasn't here anymore…she only existed in his memories now.

_The moment Lars stood in front of her in his army fatigues, his mother started scrutinizing him from head to foot. _She could give all those drill sergeants a lesson, _Lars thought._

"_Your uniform doesn't look that pressed, you look like you haven't slept in Lord knows how long, and you look thin…you probably ate like a bird….and where did you get those scars?" she said as she raised a frail hand to point at Lars' face._

"_I tripped on a rock," replied Lars shortly._

"_Oh,_ lilla älsklingen_," she affectionately called him. "You need to be careful next time and watch your step," His mother tilted her head to the side, as though a new realization dawned over her. "But those scars never took away that movie-actor beauty of yours."_

"_Mom," said Lars in a pained voice, brushing her comments away and giving a small smile._

_His mother's pinkish lips broke into a smile which pronounced her dimples and, Lars saw, the years of drinking had finally caught up with her and took most of her beauty. _

"_You didn't have to bother yourself coming back here." She said._

"_You're not happy to see me then, Mom?" asked Lars in a low voice._

"_No, no, no… I'm very happy to see you. I've missed you so much. I thought you military boys always have your schedules full," She said, entwining her arm around his. "You might get into trouble because of me."_

_Her hands fumbled for the paper bag she stashed inside her down jacket and raised it to her lips. Lars looked at the bag dispassionately, but he knew better than to question her on her drinking or her lifestyle which intensified from the time he had left for Japan. _

"_I'm on leave." _

"_Where do you live there, anyway?" she asked again._

"_In the barracks,"_

"_Of all the occupation available here in Sweden, you could be a CEO of some sort or if you want to be in the military there's always the _Försvarsmakten. _I just don't get it why do you have to be in Japan and in that Mishima Zaibatsu's Tekken force. You already know what those people are like in that company…" Her voice then dropped to a whisper as she said, "I wish I could've chosen a father for you…"_

_Lars already knew what his mother had thought when he left to join the Tekken force, but the subject wasn't raised between them. To them, silence always meant refuge. _

_Lars didn't dare tell her what he had found out on how hateful his paternal lineage; he didn't know how his mother would react to it anyway. They walked in silence for several moments and when they reached the town square, Lars decided to ask her something that had bothered him ever since he left for Japan._

"_What happened, Mom?" he asked though he already knew what had happened to her, but he wanted to hear everything from his mother firsthand. _

_His mother stopped midway in bringing the bottle to her lips and let out a hacking cough. Lars gave a frustrated sigh and pried the bottle from her hands; he didn't look at her as he threw the bottle at the nearest dustbin they came across. _

_Lars saw his mother's hands trembled in the cold and she tucked them in her worn-out down jacket. Her hands came out again this time with a pack of cigarettes. She pulled one out and lit it, after a few drags, she looked up and she gave her son a wide, carefree smile._

"_Don't worry about me; I'm not worth your time—" she said blithely._

"_It's you, Mom!" Lars burst out. "You. I'm worried about you!"_

"Lilla Älsklingen_, I'm completely fine—"_

"_The hell you are!" Lars' voice suddenly cracked like thunder that his mother jumped and smashed her cigarette; the military atmosphere he had undergone in the Tekken force abruptly burst out. "Is it so hard to put down the bottle, Mom? Things are going bad to worse because of that and you know it so why can't you just stop?" _

_His mother hung her head and Lars couldn't help but feel angry at the sight of her; a woman who was happy to be a mother but didn't know how to act like one at most times. She was still immature in every sense of the word and the alcohol made her situation worse. _

_The person his mother became when she drank had no correlation to the woman she was when she was sober. Every time that would happen Lars doesn't see his mother anymore but just a young woman in a drunken, pathetic mess, all sentimental and needy…slurring all the wrongs she has done, on how much she loves her son so much, on how much she had hoped for a better future for him, and on how much she regrets getting pregnant at the age of eighteen with some Japanese businessman who had been in Stockholm for a conference, or whatever it was, and so on…. But even so, she was still his mother. _

"_I'm sorry, Mom," said Lars immediately. "I didn't mean to yell. I'm just worried about you; I don't know where you're staying or who's looking after you and all that."_

"_You probably hate me now…" his mother whispered. _

"_I never hated you, Mom. I just hated your drinking." It was true…in spite of everything; she may be a drunk and have shortcomings, but she wasn't evil. _

"_This is Sweden, Lars. Carry out a chair and put in on the sidewalk. Sit there in that chair and wait. If you wait long enough someone will come out and give you money or take care of you somehow." his mother replied. _

"_That's not a good reason to give me a peace of mind about your predicament, Mom." Lars always understood his mother but not her drinking._

"_Lars…listen to me…_you_ have a future…_I_ don't. You won't get anything taking care of a drunk." She said softly and the words were already slurring out of her mouth. _

"_And you expect me to just take that reason obediently?" said Lars rather brusquely, then his voice dropped to a gentle nature, "You're my mother; I can't help it." _

_His mother wheezed as she turned away and rubbed her face. She turned around once again and pushed her long blonde hair as she drew close to him, and her blue eyes searched his face hungrily, as though she would never be able to look at him enough._

"_I heard all about your success in that Tekken Force," she said softly. "I'm so proud of you."_

"_I can always come back here," said Lars. "Should I—?"_

"_No." His mother cut across him. "Not for my sake."_

_Snow started to fall and his mother brushed the snowflakes away gently from his hair and shoulders. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the forehead and he caught the familiar smell of alcohol and smoke in her breath. _

"_You're the only one I have now…You're the only one in my life that I didn't screw up too badly. I was a useless mother…well, I still am…But you've got a clear sense of purpose of yourself, you're tremendously intelligent, and you have morals and a backbone." _

_Lars' mother gave a different smile; it was as though a person ten years younger was shining through the mask which was riddled with alcohol and for a moment, Lars saw the beautiful young woman she had been years ago. _

"_Don't let this drunk drag you down; do what you have to do, so get away if you have to," his mother whispered. "I don't doubt your decisions because I know you make better ones what's good for you than I do. Don't end up like me…don't end up a pathetic drunk."_

_They walked around for several more minutes before his mother accompanied him at a bus stop; Lars' mother still had her arm around his, her head resting on his shoulder and their breaths rose up, mingled and dissipated. _

"_Oh, by the way, do you have someone special over there?" His mother suddenly asked. _

"_I think dating prospects are going to be pretty thin on the ground, to be honest."_

"_Well that's disappointing," His mother laughed and __Lars looked at her; for a moment in time her pain disappeared. _

"_I'll see you again Mom, I'll visit in midsummer next year, I promise." said Lars a few minutes later as he was on the steps of the bus. _

"_I'll look forward to it," said his mother, smiling. "And I hope that you find someone special when you get back; I don't care if it's a man as long as it's someone."_

"_Mom," said Lars in a bored voice._

_His mother laughed once again; she gave him a tight hug, stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. "I'll be thinking of you."_

_The bus drove away and Lars looked over his shoulder as he watched his mother disappear into the crowd. He had an ominous feeling that that was their last meeting. _

He had not kept his promise; the next midsummer came but he didn't visit and he heard she drank her way to the grave but he had not visited since or even talked about her.

* * *

Alisa gazed at Lars and tried to comprehend the silence. He looked so pensive.

Alisa looked back at the headstone…so the person that Lars wanted her to meet was his mother.

Lena Alexandersson. Alisa thought that it was a pretty name and wondered whether Lena Alexandersson was a beautiful woman in life. She had a mother too which her father had shown her pictures and she also died years ago…according to her memory file.

Alisa analyzed Lars' heart rate and realized that it was similar to the time when Tougou-san died.

Sadness. She remembered what her father said about giving someone an embrace when feeling sadness and loss…but around that time, they had no time to dwell on that sadness. In war, there is no time to grieve for fallen comrades.

This was not the first time Alisa saw someone important to her who experienced sadness. Her father did, when there are times she had seen him so despondent. Alisa remembered her father wrapping her arms around her. She asked why her father embraced her or what the rational explanation was of wrapping someone else's arms around another in experiencing sadness.

As far as she had learned, sadness isn't a good feeling. No one wants to feel sad, her father once said, and more importantly, no one wants to see their important persons sad too. Lars was just as important to her as her father.

Her father had once explained that feelings are hard to rationalize sometimes; in some cases, feelings are influenced by the hormones of the body…increased levels of serotonin and stress hormones in the bloodstream and the like…but not all the time. The human emotion cannot be fully interpreted by science, the statement her father said echoed in her head. Her father said that embracing someone who is sad squeezes all the sadness away, especially if that person is very important to you. The justification for her father's action was quite popular in several media. To be candid, it did sound a little childish, even surreal. Though it is true that embracing someone one of the most common display of human affection along with kissing.

Yes, her father embraces her and kisses her forehead; she felt an emotion akin to comfort when he would do that. Alisa embraced her father and kissed his forehead once when he was looking so dejected and with that her father would smile and say that everything is going to be fine. She felt happy seeing that she had done something to comfort her important person.

She had already embraced Lars a couple of times before…but it was her need to be close to him. She had always wanted to help Lars in the smallest ways; an embrace, after all, isn't always a romantic exchange but also as a sign of support and comfort….maybe Lars wouldn't feel so sad if she gives him a hug and a kiss and he would smile just like her father's response.

Without further ado, Alisa wraps her arms around Lars and gave an affectionate squeeze. He gave a small jump and looked at her; he looked surprised and dazed.

"Papa always said that whenever someone is sad, they just need someone to give them a hug to squeeze all the sadness away." Alisa said.

But Lars was still looking as though he didn't know what hit him; is he still sad? Maybe he needs a kiss…

"Are you still sad? We can kiss if you like,"

But Alisa didn't wait for Lars' answer; she stood on her tiptoes and tried to kiss him on the forehead, just like what her father does. But he was taller than she was that she couldn't reach his forehead, instead she kissed him on the corner of his lips.

Lars blinked and he seemed to have come out of his trance and gave a small smile.

"I'm fine." He said.

"I'm glad I made that sadness go away. Papa also says that after I give him a hug and a kiss." Alisa replied; so it was true that an embrace and a kiss really do squeeze the sadness away.

Amazing how some baseless explanations of the human emotion can have astonishing results.

* * *

Lars gazed down at his mother's grave, unsure of how long he stood there.

Then he suddenly felt arms wrapping themselves around him; he gave a small jump and looked around. It was Alisa; she was smiling gently at him.

"Papa always said that whenever someone is sad, they just need someone to give them a hug to squeeze all the sadness away. Are you still sad?" said Alisa earnestly, tilting her head to the side and her face full of gentle concern as she studied his face. "We can kiss if you like,"

Before Lars could answer, Alisa stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the corner of his lips. He stood there, transfixed, speechless and unsure of what just happened; he felt like his head was swimming. He looked at Alisa, who had his arms around him, for a long time and remembered that this day was for her. Either way, as soon as he stood up he wanted to leave: he didn't think he could stand another moment.

"I'm fine." Lars said, giving a small smile.

"I'm glad I made that sadness go away. Papa also says that after I give him a hug and a kiss." Alisa said.

"I gotta go, Mom. I promised Alisa that we'd go out." said Lars in Swedish. And with a little hint of dejected nostalgia, he imagined his mother putting her hands on her hips and glaring at him.

_You promised to do it but you're here gawking at me. Go. Do what you have to do._ If she was still alive, that's what she would exactly say, Lars thought.

Lars said a quiet goodbye and he put his arm around Alisa's shoulders. They turned and walked away and the summer sun hit Lars along with the reminder that this wasn't a day for him to be recalling something dejected. He squinted a bit at the sun's glare as he looked up at the azure summer sky.

Lars gave out a small sigh and smiled; it was a bright summer day and it had been years since he had been out with a girl.

* * *

_**A/N:** __I don't own Tekken...I just made up Lars' mother's name. _

_I HATE STUDYING! WHY CAN'T MY MOM UNDERSTAND THAT I LOVE __**READING**__ NOT __**STUDYING**__! THERE'S A BIG DIFFERENCE!__ TO HELL WITH BIOCHEMISTRY AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY! D8_

_All that studying took every idea from my head that's why it took me so long to write this; I need time to get back my ideas and my writing skills. I just have mixed feelings with this chapter. This is the part where it's part memoirs…. Please review. _

_Thanks to my friend JAM who helped me out. =)_

_Thank you so much _**Kataux **_for the correct Swedish translations. =)_

_And also to _**Anzer'ke **_correcting me on my grammar. _

_Edited 02/15/11 : I finally had the chance to edit this chapter!_

_**Translations:**_

lilla älsklingen: Sweetheart; Honey when a parent address to his/her child (I thank Kataux for this!)

Försvarsmakten: Swedish Armed Forces

_I don't speak Swedish but my friend does. :P_


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